Tuesday, June 5, 2007

‘Hee Haw’ on UBM-TV

Never let it be said that I am inconsiderate of my white readers. I got a little “Hee Haw” going on for y’all in the Video Bar!

Actually, if you’re black and over the age of 45, you probably have fond memories of “Hee Haw” too. Our parents’ and grandparents’ generation – especially if they were raised in the country – enjoyed a bit of country music. (My folks also watched “The Porter Wagoner Show” every week.)

And us as little kids could appreciate the corny jokes. So don't act like you don't know.

Plus, Roy Clark was a bad motherfucker on that gitbox!

(As for the sailboat video… that’s got former “Hee Haw” comic Archie Campbell hustling timeshares or condos or some shit. The thing about the Video Bar is, you have to take what the machine gives you.)

I just found out something surprising. Gunilla Hutton had been Nat King Cole's mistress!

Here's what Margo Jefferson wrote in her 1999 New York Times review of a Nat Cole biography:

"In 1964, at the age of 44, he discovered he was dying of lung cancer and fell recklessly in love with a young Swedish dancer, Gunilla Hutton, who was touring with his stage show. He was soon hospitalized, and a byzantine melodrama unfolded. Maria blocked all incoming telephone calls and sat by his bed while they went from lethal words to lethal silences. Gunilla called Maria at home and asked her to give Nat the divorce he wanted. Maria went back to the hospital, dialed Gunilla's number for Nat (he was too weak to hold the phone), then listened as he told her that he was dying and must remain with his family."

And you're right about the longest-running-in-syndication thing. It was on for 22 years (I had no idea it was still on throughout the '80s.) "Wheel of Fortune" eventually beat it out as longest-running syndicate show.